Shawn Romias Keeps the Holidays Merry and Bright

A very interesting interview with Shawn Romias, the owner of The Christmas Light Pros of Sacramento. This interview originally appeared in the December 2014 issue of Sacramento.

FOR MOST OF US, HANGING CHRISTMAS LIGHTS IS SUCH A CHORE, BUT YOU ACTUALLY ENJOY IT?
As crazy as it sounds, for us it’s really about the memories that go along with the lights. We feel lucky that people give us the opportunity to be part of their Christmas holiday. On one job, there was a 6-year-old boy named Randy whose mother was deployed overseas and he had no idea she was coming home. It was a surprise for him: when they turned on the lights, his mother appeared. It’s those moments that we create the atmosphere for.

WHAT’S THE MOST OVER-THE-TOP LIGHTING PROJECT YOU’VE DONE?
We had a client one year in Placerville who actually paid us to anger his neighbor next door. We literally added probably 50,000 lights to his house. He didn’t want it to look professional; he wanted it to look like he did it himself, so there were lights strewn everywhere just to get at his neighbor.

HOW DO YOU DECORATE YOUR OWN HOME?
Oh man, one year we lined the whole face of my house with LEDs, like 5,000 or 6,000 of them. I decorate for everything: Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day. I love lights. For the Super Bowl, you can bet I had my team’s colors up for sure. Lighting just makes people happy.

ANY ADVICE FOR THE DO-IT-YOURSELFERS WHO ARE INSTALLING THEIR OWN LIGHTS?
The biggest thing we hear about is people falling off of ladders. If you’re not used to being on a ladder, you really shouldn’t be installing the lights. So be safe. If the ladder isn’t steady, don’t get on it.

SINCE YOU’RE SO BUSY THIS TIME OF YEAR, HAVE YOU COME TO LOVE THE HOLIDAYS OR DREAD THEM?
I love them more because I’m able to help people enjoy their holiday season. It’s so much fun.

WHAT DO YOU DO DURING THE OFF-SEASON?
I’m also an actor and I’ve been really fortunate to have shot around 150 commercials and done some other work. I’m a member of the Screen Actors Guild and I’m getting ready to shoot a full feature film next year in the Delta.

Click here for the origin article from the December 2014 issue of Sacramento.